Recently I heard a story that city officials in Tulsa Oklahoma were drafting legislation that would outlaw and criminalize backyard gardening. I thought this was preposterous, so I decided to check into it myself. Unfortunately what I found was even more disturbing and disheartening.Currently there are two bills, one in the house HR875, and one in the Senate S425, that would outlaw and criminalize organic farming and backyard gardening.These bills are sponsored by corporate farming conglomerates, chemical corps, and GMO seed producers such as Monsanto, ADM, Cargyle, and several others.Please spread the word and do what you can to oppose these bills. Call your friends, fellow gardeners, congressmen, and senators. We have less than two weeks before they vote on this issue.

Could be BS, I haven't heard and haven't had a second to check yet, but it sure wouldn't surprise me.

Recently I heard a story that city officials in Tulsa Oklahoma were drafting legislation that would outlaw and criminalize backyard gardening. I thought this was preposterous, so I decided to check into it myself. Unfortunately what I found was even more disturbing and disheartening.
Currently there are two bills, one in the house HR875, and one in the Senate S425, that would outlaw and criminalize organic farming and backyard gardening.
These bills are sponsored by corporate farming conglomerates, chemical corps, and GMO seed producers such as Monsanto, ADM, Cargyle, and several others.
Please spread the word and do what you can to oppose these bills. Call your friends, fellow gardeners, congressmen, and senators. We have less than two weeks before they vote on this issue.

Could be BS, I haven’t heard and haven’t had a second to check yet, but it sure wouldn’t surprise me.[/quote]

First off, Tulsa is a city governed by a city council, not house and senate. Second, as far as Oklahoma state government, there is no HR875 pending and SB425 has nothing to do with organic gardening.

I don’t jump to conclusions and like I say in the first post. “Could be BS.”. I don’t know and was wondering if anybody had heard. It doesn’t take a tin foil hat to suspect the worst of these freedom hating tyrants, but it also isn’t credible report falsely which I am not doing. I’m asking if anybody has read the resolutions. They’re up on Thomas, but I just heard about them.

Recently I heard a story that city officials in Tulsa Oklahoma were drafting legislation that would outlaw and criminalize backyard gardening. I thought this was preposterous, so I decided to check into it myself. Unfortunately what I found was even more disturbing and disheartening.
Currently there are two bills, one in the house HR875, and one in the Senate S425, that would outlaw and criminalize organic farming and backyard gardening.
These bills are sponsored by corporate farming conglomerates, chemical corps, and GMO seed producers such as Monsanto, ADM, Cargyle, and several others.
Please spread the word and do what you can to oppose these bills. Call your friends, fellow gardeners, congressmen, and senators. We have less than two weeks before they vote on this issue.

Could be BS, I haven’t heard and haven’t had a second to check yet, but it sure wouldn’t surprise me.[/quote]

With this administration and congress it wouldn’t suprise anyone if it came to a vote.

Yeah, I heard about the Whitehouse garden, but politicians never follow the same rules they set for the rest of us anyway.

What’s being alleged by some is that at the behest of major AG outfits, food production would be regulated to the point of making it either prohibitively expensive or outright illegal for anybody but them to do it.

I don’t find it hard to believe that they would try this. I do find it somewhat hard to believe that if it were as being alleged that at least some major news outlets would be reporting it somewhere. I got a chance to give a cursory perusal of the house version which is huge, but I haven’t had time to really dig in. Here it is at govtrack. The thomas searches expire when you go back to them.

Interesting trivia: this bill was introduced by Democratic Congresstwat Rosa de Lauro of Connecticut, who happens to have a husband who works for Monsanto, that fine organization that patented the pig.

You said it first, but this is the very first thing that came to mind after a quick glance at the house version. If the broad sweeping regulations that are being alleged are factual this is exactly the case. I can hear it now.

This is all for the purpose of preventing more broccoli, beef and peanut episodes like we’ve seen.

That would mean mandated pesticides, antibiotics, irradiation, genetically manipulated seeds etc. and stiff penalties for anybody found out of compliance.

The summaries I’ve read say that it outlaws long standing practices, not by declaring them illegal, but by declaring the regulated versions as the only ones that ARE legal.

Like saying, nowhere does this bill say that tennis shoes would be illegal, it just says that only loafers ARE legal. In essence only those ag super corps with tons of money and close federal ties would possibly be able to comply.

There aren’t enough hours in a day for me to do all the crap I’m dealing with at the moment already.

And yes, controlling agriculture and food production is classic totalitarian tactics. I don’t now that that’s the case here, but again, it sure wouldn’t surprise me.

…aren’t those the consequences of the free market? These companies have every right to lobby for such a bill, and if you line the pockets of enough politicians it’ll get through. It’s madness ofcourse, but they are working the system, and since when are corporations ethical?

And by the way, there will never be a bill passed that bans backyard gardening.

I worked in that industry for a long fuckin’ time, and there’s many millions upon millions based on people doing just that. It would drive entire segments of the population into bankruptcy.

Not to mention, over the entire time I was involved in the gardening industry, there was maybe 2 or 3 products that were banned because they were dangerous- and they were. One was Diazinon, and I don’t remember what the other ones were. But it happened rarely.

The best part of all this is that for 8 years, Bush was listening to our phones, trying to track library book checkouts, banning songs from being played on the radio, invading foreign countries, demolishing the economy, and pitting American against American in the hunt for what was unamerican, and you all sat here and took it in the ass like good little sheep.

You know, back during the administration of George Bush the Elder, it came out that the President was not fond of broccoli.

“I do not like broccoli,” quoth George, "and I haven’t liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it. And I’m President of the United States and I’m not going to eat any more broccoli.?

Almost immediately, broccoli farmers sent truckloads of the stuff to the White House. Ten tons of broccoli from California alone.A veritable broccoli-o-rama

Barbara Bush had some (she likes broccoli), and the rest they donated to charity.

Anyway, it appears that Mr. Obama doesn’t like beets.

When will the truckloads of beets descend upon Pennsylvania Avenue, one wonders.

[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:
hedo wrote:
The restriction of food production worked for Stalin. Certainly seems like Obama learned the lesson doesn’t it?

LOL. You motherfuckers are absolutely ridiculous.

The politics forum is no longer the home of sane people evidently. Stalin and Obama huh? Oh christ. Even I never went this far with Bush.

No wonder it’s the same five guys here blowin each other every day.[/quote]

Oh come on Irish you guys jacked each other off over Bush for 8 years and he never fucked up things as bad as Obama has in 60 days. If Bush tried 1/2 the shit the chosen one is supporting the collective liberal psyche would have been in full melt down.

This bill is a joke. Why should the government control food production.

[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:
And by the way, there will never be a bill passed that bans backyard gardening.

I worked in that industry for a long fuckin’ time, and there’s many millions upon millions based on people doing just that. It would drive entire segments of the population into bankruptcy.

Not to mention, over the entire time I was involved in the gardening industry, there was maybe 2 or 3 products that were banned because they were dangerous- and they were. One was Diazinon, and I don’t remember what the other ones were. But it happened rarely.

The best part of all this is that for 8 years, Bush was listening to our phones, trying to track library book checkouts, banning songs from being played on the radio, invading foreign countries, demolishing the economy, and pitting American against American in the hunt for what was unamerican, and you all sat here and took it in the ass like good little sheep.

Now with Obama, this is the big scare?

yall motherfuckers are ridiculous. [/quote]

You mean Bankrupt like the coal industry? Do you really think driving large segments of the population into bankruptcy is a concern as long as it only effects the right people…you know like 90% tax on bonuses?